Not even 25 years of age, Luka Doncic has already made four All-Star game selections, with another one underway. He has made the all-NBA First Team, the All-Rookie First Team, and also has the Rookie of the Year award under his belt. Looking at the numbers, any NBA fan would assume that Doncic has the potential to shatter several records including the total highest points scored in the NBA, if continues to play on the top level for a long time. However, the Slovenian international has no intentions as such.
Advertisement
Recently, Doncic made an appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick, where the two went on to talk about various aspects of his game and some of the things Doncic is looking to achieve.
While on the podcast, Redick brought up the stat of Luka being at the third spot for most 35-point games before turning 25. The two players ahead of him were Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James.
When asked if he’d like to chase LeBron James’ total points, which is 157 points shy from the 40,000 landmark, the 6’7 point guard displayed no interest in that. In fact, the Mavericks star had some other plans for his career and what he’d like to do after he hangs his sneakers for good.
“I’m not playing that long, no chance. I’m going to have my own farm in Slovenia.”
Redick went on to ask what a perfect career looked like to Doncic. The cornerstone of the Mavericks franchise described the things he wanted out of his career going forward.
“Championships, that’s it…I mean, obviously, I’d like one(MVP). Who wouldn’t like MVP?”
Doncic did express his desire to win multiple championships but the bare minimum for the 24-year-old was winning one MVP award and one NBA championship ahead in his career.
Coming back to Luka Doncic displaying no desire to chase LeBron James’ point total, this wasn’t the first time the five-time All-Star had addressed this question. Even then, the international star had somewhat of a similar answer as he did on Redick’s podcast.
Despite his statement, Doncic’s style of play on the court would make anyone think that he may also be a stat-sheet stuffer, looking to etch his name in as many NBA records as possible. However, that’s not Doncic’s end goal.
The Dallas Mavericks star point guard is now looking to bring at least another title to the franchise while also hoping to win an MVP award while doing so. Doncic will be turning 25 later this month and given his career’s trajectory, an MVP and a championship ring may come to him sooner than anyone would think.
Does Luka Doncic’s resume match up with LeBron James?
Luka Doncic did express his desire to win an MVP award as well as an NBA championship when asked what a perfect career looks like to him. Now whether the Mavericks go on to win it all this season is anybody’s guess. Meanwhile, let’s have a look at this year’s MVP ladder and how likely is Doncic to win at least one of his desired accomplishments.
As per last week’s update, Doncic was ranked in the sixth spot for the race to this year’s MVP.
“MVP” chants raining down at Barclays Center towards the end of Nets-Mavericks for Luka Doncic pic.twitter.com/ev4pduGICw
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 7, 2024
However, an injury to Joel Embiid and Doncic’s antics on the court have now landed him in fourth place, one spot ahead of Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum. Doncic recently had a career-high 73-point performance last month that boosted his ratings quite a bit. If he continues to perform the way he has, then this very well could be the year that Luka wins his coveted MVP award.
After Joel Embiid underwent a left meniscus procedure Tuesday, here are the updated NBA MVP probabilities, per @bball_ref.
Nikola Jokic: 51.1%
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 21.0%
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 12.4%
Luka Doncic: 5.3%
Jayson Tatum: 2.5% pic.twitter.com/h5F9cJ8EaI— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 6, 2024
Looking at the Dallas Mavericks’ roster this year, the team has another star along with Doncic in Kyrie Irving. The Mavericks squad even ended up landing some great talent through this year’s NBA draft. And a few recent trades have made the Mavericks a lucrative choice in the West.
However, the team currently has a 29-23 overall record so far and is barely hanging on to the eighth spot in the Western Conference. So, to predict if the Mavericks can win it all this year may be too early to tell. But it would be interesting to see where Doncic leads Dallas this season after missing out on the playoffs last year.
